Page 125 of Bite Marks

“God no.” Elsie shook her head, silver hair catching the light. “She was all about order. Everything in its place—Juniper used to drive her insane leaving her stuff everywhere in the living room. Ooh! Maybe instead of making a big mess in the kitchen, I’ll order us all some takeout? We can cuddle and watch a movie.”

“Sounds great, Els,” Ren praised at the same time I said, “Pizza?”

“Mm-hmm! Also, dibs on the window side. I hate sleeping close to the door,” she said, pointing down the hall. “My room is that one! Come see it later?”

“Absolutely,” I said, joining Ren inside.

“Middle work for you?” she asked. “Might be a little squishy.”

I looked around Ren’s room—immaculately clean to the point of nearly sterile—and nearly let out a moan.

Against the wall to the left was a low king-sized bed, the tufted black velvet headboard and frame wrapping around a thick mattress with a cozy-looking duvet.

What a fucking upgrade from Kaylee’s sofa.

“I’ll survive it,” I promised, sitting on the edge of the bed and flopping backwards with a happy groan as I sank into beautiful, immobile, memory foam bliss. “Oh my god…”

Ren chuckled, setting my suitcase down by the door. “I’ll unpack you if you’d like. Can’t imagine that mess will be sorted any time soon, and there’s no reason for you to continue living out of a suitcase.”

“This is going to be home for a while,” Elsie promised, racing in after me to cannonball onto the bed, stretching out to lie against my side. “Sooooo, pick somewhere you’ll be comfortable. Like my room, if you aren’t into the boring minimalist thing.”

Maybe I died.

Maybe this is what heaven feels like.

“Like I said, I called dibs,” Ren reminded her, cocking an eyebrow. “And you have no closet space.”

“Dibs schmibs,” Elsie muttered as I sat up, accidentally dislodging her arm. “I can make room.”

Ren let out a disbelieving laugh as I sat up, taking in the monochromatic white, black, and grey combo of Ren’s room, streaked with swashes of colour provided by the lights outside the window.

The effect was a bit like a watercolour painting, washes of vibrant pink and blue made translucent in their lack of tangibility.

Beside the walk-in closet Ren opened to make space for my stuff in her drawers—where I could see row after row of clothes carefully organised by colour and type staring back at me like a high-end department store—was another door.

“Do you have two closets?” I asked. “Maybe the other is less, uh, full?”

“Huh?” Ren poked her head out to look at me, hair sticking up a little from the static of the clothes that she was patting down impatiently. “Oh, no. That’s a bathroom.”

She knocked before opening it, giving me a glimpse of the white tile and double sink vanity beyond. “It’s a Jack and Jill,” she explained, flicking on the light to point at the door on the far side. “That’s Juniper’s room.”

“You’re neighbours?” I asked, surprised that overly tidy Ren and notoriously disorganised Juniper were able to share a space without killing each other.

They were obviously close. Other than Elsie, the masculine vampire seemed to spend the most time with Juniper, but nearly sharing a room? With those competing personalities?

“Yes, they nearly kill each other three times a week,” Elsie stage-whispered, making me laugh.

“Dana won't feel left out?” I asked. “If I’m staying in your room and Els is sleeping with us?”

Elsie laughed. “Dana will absolutely sneak a spot in the middle of the night, so if you wake up with Ren’s elbow in your face, it’s not my fault.”

Ren caught my eye, the ghost of a smile revealing her fangs before she disappeared back into the closet. “You only have one bag. Do you think two drawers will be okay?”

“More than okay. When you’re done, do you wanna see if we can catch the game highlights?”

“Only if I get to pick the movie after,” Elsie complained. “It’s seriously the dumbest stereotype that all vampires like baseball.”

After way too many slices of pizza and a couple of beers, I was almost feeling relaxed.

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